Cleveland area mail carrier sent to prison for stealing marijuana packages

CLEVELAND >> A mail carrier has been sentenced to three months in prison for taking more than 10 pounds of marijuana intended for delivery to two northeast Ohio residences.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland says 43-year-old Thomas Schaefer, of the Cleveland suburb of Broadview Heights, pleaded guilty in December to one count of mail theft. He was sentenced Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Schaefer was assigned to the Newburgh Heights post office when he suspected that a package intended for delivery to a Cleveland home in March 2017 contained marijuana and kept the 4 pounds inside of it.

He was arrested after keeping a parcel containing more than 6 pounds of pot addressed to a Garfield Heights home in August 2017.